Folding play yard center leg



Nov. 19, 1963 H. J. LANDRY 3,110,913

FOLDING PLAY YARD CENTER LEG Filed Jan. 5, 1962 INVENTOR HENRY J. LANDRY ATTORNEY United States Patent Office ddldfilia Patented Nov. 19, 1963 3,110,913 FOLDING PLAY YARD CENTER LEG Henry J. Landry, Lahe Road, Ashburnham, Mass. Filed Jan. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 164,446 10 Claims. ((31. -99) This invention relates to a new and improved folding play yard and more particularly to an automatically acting center leg support for the floor of the play yard.

Objects of the invention include the provision of an automatically acting pivoted or folding center leg support for the sections of the floor of the play yard, the support being provided with mechanism whereby the center leg will automatically swing out at right angles to the fioor section when the play pen is extended to open condition from its folded condition, and a latch will automatically come into play and releasably latch the leg in floor supporting condition; but when the play pen is to be folded, the latch is automatically unlatched and retreats to its original position, merely by the action of the floor in folding, thus allowing the leg to fold or pivot by gravity to a parallel condition with respect to its floor section, so that the operator need not touch or actuate the center leg support at any time.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of the play yard showing the same in open extended condition;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the same partly folded;

FIG. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale illustrating the center supporting leg in extended condition;

FIG. 4 is a detail view of the pivoted leg;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the leg as it appears in folded condition, and

FIG. 6 is a view in elevation, looking in the direction of arrow 6 in FIG. 3.

The leg construction of the present invention may be applied to substantially any play yard having folding floor sections, but to illustrate the construction it has been illustrated herein as being applied to a hexagonal play yard which is provided with a folding floor generally of the type shown and described in my Patent No. 2,489,188. This floor is provided with a pedal by which the folding action may be initiated.

Referring now to the drawings in FIGS. 1 and 3 thereof, there is shown a front wall it) and an opposite, similar rear wall 12, these being hinged at their ends to infolding side wall members which are indicated at 1 16, 18 and 26. It will be seen that with the hexagonal shape of the play yard, the top rails are mitered and abut at all of the corners, holding the play yard rigid when extended.

The front wall 16 and the rear wall 12 each has pivoted thereon as by hinges generally indicated at 2-2, a main folding floor section 24 and 2.6 These floor sections are in the form of truncated triangles and at opposite edges thereof they have hinged thereto side wing members which are indicated as at 28, 36, 32 and 34. The side wing members are also pivoted as for instance by hinges 36 to the respective infolding side walls '14, 16, =18 and 20.

The side walls may be made in any desired manner such as with wooden spindles as is common in the art or with nylon net or plastic panels, but in any event there is provided a treadle or the like 38 which as shown in my patent above identified when stepped upon tends to raise floor section 24. Since floor sections 23 and 30 are secured thereto, these sections also start to rise (see FIG. 2) and due to their interconnection with the infolding side walls, the other sections 26, 32 and 34 also rise, so that by merely pushing in on the infolding side walls,

the play pen may be folded to a point where all of the main parts thereof thus far described are substantially parallel, so that the play yard occupies a very small space. There is a center leg support that also aids in the initial upward motion towards folded position of the floor part 26 and this is indicated generally at 46, being secured transversely to floor member 24 and including a bar extending the width thereof as indicated at 42, terminating in the treadle 38.

This center supporting leg construction comprises the principal novelty in the present case and automatically folds and unfolds with the floor as will be described. As seen in FIG. 3, the bar 42 extends preferably from edge to edge of the floor member 24, and at its inner edge which is indicated by the reference numeral 44, it terminates but provides a support fora pair of spaced parallel plates 46 and 48. These plates extend at right angles to floor section 24 and extend therebeyond as shown in FIG. 3 so that the edge of the floor member 26 may rest thereon in extended condition of the play yard, and also so that when the treadle is stepped on, the plates 46 :and 48 will tend to move upwardly thus initiating the folding motion of both members 24 and 26.

Intermediate their ends adjacent the upper edges thereof plates 46 and 48 are provided with a pivot pin 50 upon which is pivoted the center leg per se which is indicated at 52. This leg may have a caster of conventional construction 54- and is preferably made in the form of a tube, with the portion of the leg 52 which extends between the plates =46, 48 as shown in FIG. 3 somewhat flattened. In folded condition, the leg 52 preferably extends above the pivot point 5! and plates 46 and 48, as shown at 56, but in the extended condition thereof the extending portion 56, being somewhat curved toward the floor member 24,

" is contained between the two plates 46 and 48 which are correspondingly curved (see FIG. 3)..

It will be seen that when the floor part 24 is moved from its FIG. 5 position in a clockwise direction to the FIG. 3 position, the leg 52 will naturally fall by gravity into a right angular position with respect to floor 24 when floor 24 is horizontal, and conversely when floor part 24 is raised to the FIG. 5 position, leg 52 will pivot to a position to the floor section 24.

A latch is provided for maintaining leg 52 in the FIG. 3 extended position. This latch comprises a rod or pin 58 which is slidably mounted in a pair of like slots 60,

one in each plate 46, 48, these slots extending on an incline with respect to floor member 24. The slots 60 terminate however in downwardly extending notches 62 which are generally parallel to the leg 52 in its extended position, i.e., not at an incline with respect to floor 24 but at right angles thereto. The motion of the rod or pin 58 is from end-to-end of this slot as is shown by a comparison of FIGS. 3 and 5, and this motion also is largely occasioned by means of gravity, so that when the leg 52 is extended to the FIG. 3 position, the rod 58 slides down the inclined slots 60 into the portion 62 thereof, engaging the rear edge of the leg 52 and releasably holding it in the extended position as shown in FIG. 3.

In order to enhance this action, I have provided a spur 64 at the rear portion of leg 52, this spur occasioning a recess 66 just above :it which receives the rod 58 therein and this as will be seen causes an improved latching action of the leg but has a more important function which will be hereinafter described. The rod 58 is preferably provided with end buttons 68, 68. If this rod should jam at any time in its motion in the slots, it can be easily manually actuated by means of the buttons 68. The plates 46, 48 are provided with inturned tabs 70 which limit the motion of the leg 52 in a counterclockwise direction as shown in FIG. 3.

With the parts in the extended position of FIG. 1, and

the treadle being stepped upon, the floor starts to rise as has been above described, and the spur at 64 tends to force rod 58 out of the recess 66 and out of the terminal portions 62 of slots 60. This is done simply by the inertia of the leg itself as it tends to rise and as it tends to change its angle from a right angle to floor part 24 to an acute angle with respect thereto. As soon as the rod 58 is out of the notches at 62, it rides easily down the slots 60 to the position shown in FIG. 5, and of course the leg 52 is left in this dangling position automatically. It will be seen that the leg 52 is latched in its extended FIG. 3 condition, but this latch is automatically released and the leg unlatched and pivoted by gravity back to the folded condition thereof as in FIG. 5 whenever the floor 24- is raised, thus providing for automatic latching and unlatching of the leg 52 and completely avoiding the necessity of any manual manipulation thereof.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A folding play yard comprising front and rear wall members and two pairs of inwardly fold-able side Walls interposed therebetween at the ends thereof defining a floor area when extended, said wall members being hingedly interconnected to be folded into close parallel association with each other, a pair of floor sections pivotally secured to the respective front and rear wall members,

(a) a supporting element fixed to the under surface of one of the floor sections for movement therewith and having a portion extending into the area of the adjacent edge of the other floor section when the floor sections are extended to open position,

(b) and a center floor supporting leg swingingly connected to said supporting element and depending therebelow, said center floor supporting leg being movable by gravity from a position parallel to its floor section when folded to a position at right angles thereto when extended,

'(0) and latching means on the supporting element latching said leg in its extended position at right angles to the floor, said center leg itself comprising means releasing the latching means when the floor section is raised in its folding action to allow the leg to fold back into parallel position with respect to its,

floor section.

2. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said latching means comprises a plate having a slot arranged at an incline with respect to the respective floor section and a latch element slidable in said slot by gravity toward the leg when the leg is swung out from its floor sect-ion towards its extended supporting condition, said slot extending into close association with said leg and said latch element coming to rest at an edge of said leg to releasably latch the same in extended condition thereof.

3. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting element and latching means comprises a pair of spaced plates having slots arranged at an incline with respect to the respective floor section and a latch element freely slidable in said slots by gravity toward the leg when the leg is swung out from its floor section towards its extended supporting condition, said slots extending into close association with said leg and said latch element coming to rest at an edge of said leg to releasably latch the same in extended condition thereof, the plates being located one at each side of the leg.

4. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting element and latching means comprises a pair of spaced plates having slots arranged at an incline with respect to the respective floor section and a latch element freely slidable in said slots by gravity toward the leg when the leg is swung out from its floor section towards its extended supporting condition, said slots extending into close association with said leg and said latch element coming to rest at an edge of said leg to releasably i latch the same in extended condition thereof, the plates being located one at each side of the leg, and means pivoting the leg to both plates adjacent the slots.

5. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said latching means comprises a plate having a slot arranged at an incline with respect to the respective floor section and a latch element slidable in said slot by gravity toward the leg when the leg is swung out from its floor section towards its extended supporting condition, said slot extending into close association with said leg and said latch element coming to rest at an edge of said leg to releasably latch the same in extended condition thereof, said slot terminating adjacent the leg in a notch that is at a right angle to the respective floor section and parallel to the leg when extended.

6. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting element and latching means comprises a pair of spaced plates having slots arranged at an incline with respect to the respective floor section and a latch element freely slidable in said slots by gravity toward the leg when the leg is swung out from its floor section towards its extended supporting condition, said slots extending into close association with said leg and said latch element coming to rest at an edge of said leg to releasably latch the same in extended condition thereof, the plates being located one at each side of the leg, downwardly extended terminal notches at corresponding ends of said slots, said notches being in general parallel-ism with the axis of the leg when extended and adjacent thereto, the element coming to rest in the notches to hold the leg extended.

7. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting element includes a plate having a slot extending at an incline with respect to the respective floor section, at latch element slidable in said slot to come to rest against the back edge of the leg when extended, and means at the back edge of the leg receiving said latch element.

8. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting element includes a plate having a slot extending at an incline with respect to the respective floor section, a latch element slidable in said slot to come to rest against the back edge of the leg when extended, and means at the back edge of the leg receiving said latch element, said last-named means comprising a projection on the back edge of the leg, said projection forming an abutment post in which the latch element slides in its extreme position at one end of the slot.

9. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting element includes a plate having a slot extending at an incline with'respect to the respective floor section, a latch element slidable in said slot to come to rest against the back edge of the leg when extended, and means at the back edge of the leg receiving said latch element, said last-named means comprising a projection on the back edge of the leg, said projection forming a recess for receiving the latch element, said projection acting to urge the latch element out of the recess and into the slot as the leg initiates its return motion toward folded position.

10. The folding play yard recited in claim 1 wherein said supporting element comprises a fixed plate, said leg being pivoted to said plate, a portion of the leg extending beyond the pivot axis of the leg and beyond the adjacent edge of the plate when the leg is folded, said extending portion of the leg being engaged by the other floor section at the adjacent edge thereof to assist in moving the leg into right angular position with respect to the floor sections when extended.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A FOLDING PLAY YARD COMPRISING FRONT AND REAR WALL MEMBERS AND TWO PAIRS OF INWARDLY FOLDABLE SIDE WALLS INTERPOSED THEREBETWEEN AT THE ENDS THEREOF DEFINING A FLOOR AREA WHEN EXTENDED, SAID WALL MEMBERS BEING HINGEDLY INTERCONNECTED TO BE FOLDED INTO CLOSE PARALLEL ASSOCIATION WITH EACH OTHER, A PAIR OF FLOOR SECTIONS PIVOTALLY SECURED TO THE RESPECTIVE FRONT AND REAR WALL MEMBERS, (A) A SUPPORTING ELEMENT FIXED TO THE UNDER SURFACE OF ONE OF THE FLOOR SECTIONS FOR MOVEMENT THEREWITH AND HAVING A PORTION EXTENDING INTO THE AREA OF THE ADJACENT EDGE OF THE OTHER FLOOR SECTION WHEN THE FLOOR SECTIONS ARE EXTENDED TO OPEN POSITION, (B) AND A CENTER FLOOR SUPPORTING LEG SWINGINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID SUPPORTING ELEMENT AND DEPENDING THEREBELOW, SAID CENTER FLOOR SUPPORTING LEG BEING MOVABLE BY GRAVITY FROM A POSITION PARALLEL TO ITS FLOOR SECTION WHEN FOLDED TO A POSITION AT RIGHT ANGLES THERETO WHEN EXTENDED, (C) AND LATCHING MEANS ON THE SUPPORTING ELEMENT LATCHING SAID LEG IN ITS EXTENDED POSITION AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE FLOOR, SAID CENTER LEG ITSELF COMPRISING MEANS RELEASING THE LATCHING MEANS WHEN THE FLOOR SECTION IS RAISED IN ITS FOLDING ACTION TO ALLOW THE LEG TO FOLD BACK INTO PARALLEL POSITION WITH RESPECT TO ITS FLOOR SECTION. 